bedroom and he may have passed away in the middle of the night. >> i remember the paramedics gathering around ben and measuring all types of vitals and that sort of thing. >> the ambulance arrived, and they put him into the back of the ambulance with my mom. >> there was a moment there where you just let go. >> there was a point in there where i realized that the answer to my prayer maybe was going to be, i'm going to take him home to heaven. finally they were wheeling him from the e.r. to a regular room, and i was walking alongside the gurney holding ben's hand, his

warm little hand which i was loving at the moment. ben was looking straight up, and he said, mom, do you see that light? i said, new york no, i don't se. but it's there. can you see it? and he told me that it made him feel really good, and he thought it was an angel. >> "to heaven and back," an anderson cooper special report airs tomorrow night at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern time right here on cnn. we have much more ahead in the "newsroom," and that starts right now. hello there. i'm miguel marquez. here are the top stories we're following in the "cnn newsroom." just a day after thanksgiving

thanks, we saw brawling. black friday shoppers. we'll bring you the worst of the violent shoppers shoving and screaming trying to snag a deal. eight people dead so far after a police helicopter crashes through the roof of a pub. now the search for survivors. coming up, what witnesses saw moments before impact. a chilling video of an elderly u.s. tourist dragged off a plane and held hostage in north korea. details on his suspicious confession, next. at least eight people have died after a police helicopter crashed into a pub in scotland. the pub was packed with a concert when part of the roof came down. three victims were on the helicopter and the other five inside the pub. more than 30 people were rushed to hospitals, and police say about 14 are still there seriously injured. richard quest has the latest

from glasgow. >> reporter: miguel, according to one of scotland's most senior politicians, this was the news they had been dreading but expecting. having spent most of the day with only one person confirmed dead, everybody knew that the number of fatalities would rise, and now they're saying eight people perished last night. nor are they able to say whether that is the final total because, as the head of police scotland put it, the helicopter is in the middle of the building, and until they can remove it, they don't really know what's underneath. removing the helicopter will be an extremely difficult, complex, and intricate operation. the building is unstable, and they want to ensure maximum safety before they try any further operations. finding out what happened and why the helicopter fell out of the sky in such a disastrous way last night, again, the police describe that as a sensitive and

complex investigation, one that will take many weeks if not months. tonight, though, in scotland, the people are mourning the fact that eight people perished. the number may go higher. and flags in the country are at half-mast. miguel? >> thank you very much, richard quest. one witness says the helicopter came hurdling oust the sky looking like a huge roth. we'll get his first hand story at 3:00 p.m. eastern. north korea's government claims a california man detained for a month has apologized for crimes during the korean war. in a new video, 85-year-old merrill newman says he's sorry for killing civilians an troops. in the alleged apology, he says the u.s. isn't telling the truth about north korea. he's one of two americans being held in north korea currently. the u.s. won't recognize china's newly created air defense zone over the east china satis sea but is advising air carriers to stay away. last week china declared the area off limits.

china and japan have claimed ownership of several islands in the east china sea. some fear the standoff could lead to violence intended or not. >> a shooting, a stabbing, a mob brawl. just another black friday. with chaos reported from north carolina to nevada, alexander field is not brawling. she's following the black friday brawls, though. alexandra, tell us the worst of it. do we want to know? >> reporter: miguel, fortunately, the shopping scene is feeling a little more sane today. yesterday those black friday shoppers came out with their claws and really a whole lot more. it's getting downright dangerous, that hunt for deals year after year. check out this video shot in new jersey. this is a mall where two women went after each other, one of the shoppers pulls out a stun gun. that's right, a stun gun. in las vegas, police say it was more than a stun gun. that's where officers say there was a shooting when one shopper tried to steal a deal from another shopper.

in virginia, police say there was a stabbing. they say that one man threatened another man with both a knife and a rifle. in texas, pepper spray was unleashed on the shoppers. it goes on and on across the country. you can see those crowds of people mobbing the stores in california. a police officer says he broke his hand trying to break up a fight. all of this raises two questions for us, miguel. one, is any of this worth it? and, two, should i just shop more online? >> well, alexandra, i was out getting your christmas gift in atlanta last night, and it was perfectly fine. it was packed, traffic was heavy, but it was fine. big crowds, festive crowds. so it didn't happen everywhere. the big question, though, are people spending the cash? i won't tell you what i'm getting you either. >> reporter: miguel, it did not happen everywhere, good to point out. people are spending money and most in a polite way. it's expected in the months of november and december, consumers will spend more than $600

billion, $80 billion spent online, 140 million shoppers are expected to come out this weekend. and, again, most of them are behaving well, miguel. >> well, that is good to know. let's hope we continue with peace and joy into the holiday season. thank you very much, alexandra. the clock is ticking, and a lot is on the line. we're talking about the obama care web site. the president promising that by midnight it will work properly for most users. will it? that's next in the "cnn newsroom."

it is still three years until the 2016 presidential election, but new cnn poll numbers are already suggesting at least two potential early front runners. paul steinhauser has more.

oh, paul? >> miguel, so far this month chris christie won a landslide reelection victory in new jersey, took over as chairman of the republican governors association and now he apparently has another honor. >> 2016 is a long way away. >> chris christie is right. it is. but let's be honest. the early moves in the next race for the white house are already under way. for the first time, a front-runner appears among the possible gop presidential contenders in our new cnn/orc poll. 24% of republicans we questioned said they'd be likely to support christie as their party's nominee. he's 11 percentage points ahead of senator rand paul of kentucky who's at 13%. congressman paul ryan of wisconsin last year's republican running mate and freshman senator ted cruz of texas are the only others in double digits in our new poll. kristi says first things first. he's got his mind on next year's midterm elections, not 2016. >> we've got 2014 to deal with.

>> when it comes to the democrats, our poll, like all the rest, indicates that hillary clinton would be the overwhemg front-runner for the nomination if she runs. >> when women participate in the politics of their nations, they can make a difference. >> but what if she doesn't make a second run for the white house? our survey suggests vice president joe biden would be the front-runner right now with 43% of democrats saying they'd be likely to support him for the nomination. with freshman senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts a distant second. one thing, though. the next race for the white house really doesn't start kicking into gear for another year so this early date these polls are partially a reflection of name recognition. miguel? >> thanks, paul, for making sense of it all. one thing that could affect those poll numbers is how americans respond to the president's health care program. we are just under 11 hours before the deadline kicks in for health care.gov to be up and

running smoothly for the vast majority of users. cnn's tory dunnen reports ha lot is at stake and the clock is ticking. >> reporter: it's been a frenzied race to fix health care.gov and today, november 30th is the day when president obama promised the web site would be running smoothly for the vast majority of users. >> by the end of this month, we anticipate that it is going to be working the way it is supposed to, all right? >> reporter: it's been two months since the botched rollout on october 1st. sparking a firestorm in congress and forcing the administration to set a self-imposed deadline. >> the assessment that we have made is that it will take until the end of november for an optimally functioning web site. >> reporter: the latest from jeffrey zeins, the man the president brought in to turn thing around, is that the fix is on track, the web site should be able to handle 50,000 users at the same time, double what it once could, and overall more than 800,000 users per day. but there's a caveat.

>> to be clear, november 30th does not represent a relaunch of health care.gov. it is not a magical date. there will be times after november 30th when the site, like any web site, does not perform optimally. >> reporter: and too many people trying to log in could still spell trouble. the administration says they'll be put in a virtual queue and will get an e-mail with a better time to sign on. troubleshooters have been working round-the-clock, including at this command center in columbia, maryland. one expert we talked to said even if the 50,000 concurrent users goal is meant how much time they spent on the site cob a headache. >> it isn't how many lanes you have but how fast the cars can go down the highway. if there's a breakdown, you'll have a big traffic jam and pileup behind you. >> reporter: republican critics like congressman fred upton aren't letting up. he's taking aim at the administration's claim that

running smoothly for the vast majority of users means an 80% success rate, saying, quote, the situation is so bad that a 20% failure rate is the goal. >> and that was cnn's tory dunnen. she says some insurance insiders tell us there's still problems with the back end of the be web site. some customers' information is being lost or destroyed in the system. so what does this mean politically? is it just another day or another deadline? or are there other lasting implications for the president? what about the republicans who oppose obama care? ron brownstein joins us from washington, the editorial director at the national george and cnn's political analyst. ron, if it all goes well and health care.gov starts working, are the obama administration problems over at least for now? >> i think producing a functioning web site is clearly going to be a journey, not a destination. this is not something that is going to turn around in a single moment. miguel, in some ways the most

important political impact of the rocky rollout has been it has reemboldened all the republican opposition at the federal level and state level. after the shutdown and the party was reeling, the president had an opportunity to kind of take command of the political debate. but what's happened in these two months is its very difficult start has made republicans very confident in continuing to advocate for repeal. we'll see that pushed i think through the 2014 election and probably into the 2016 election. so this debate is far from over. >> let's focus on 2014. the shutdown took the wind out of the sails of the republicans early on, now health care has taken the wind out of sail fz the democrats. what could all of this -- it's so hard to read the tea leaves but with so few seats up for grabs in the next congressional turn, could any of these issues p make the difference? >> obviously the republicans were -- we've seen an extraordinary month where both parties shot themselves in the foot to an indreadible degree, with the gop ratings at the

lowest level they've ever been in a number of polls but immediately the health care rollout kind of trumping that. i think in the long run the health care issue is more of a challenge particularly in the senate. in the senate you're looking at democrats defending a series of states in red leaning states like west virginia, south dakota, alaska, arkansas, north carolina, where the health care plan is likely to face significant xskepticism. that is going to be the key legislative dynamic. how do the red state -- especially if they can't iron out the kinks on the web site. >> another possible pitfall for the republicans, i suppose, the web site issue may look small with the next issue facing the congress and the president, and that is a big budget deadline, yes, yet again, if you haven't had enough, we have another one. by december 13th, negotiators have to come up with a plan to fund the government. does this sound familiar? if they don't by january 15th it shuts down again. the next debt ceiling vote is

expected to take place february 7th, just in time for st. valentine's day. how is this going to go down, ron? >> you've got to think that after the last shutdown all indications are there's very little appetite for a repeat performance. so the expectation in washington at least is there will be some kind of minimally acceptable deal to keep the government from reaching that precipice but not really making progress on the long-term problems. part of the challenge we face is we've got two coalition that's have very different visions for where the country should go and what the federal government should be doing, neither one with the strength to simply impose their answer on the other but neither with the flexibility to negotiate a big deal. the weakness being exposed by obama care, by and large rkss are expected to do well in 2014 and have a better hand to negotiate in 2015. >> across the country, how does obama care play out? does it depend if you're in aid red state, blue state? does it kpend on the reporting in individual towns? what's the split we're seeing,

any definabe ablable splits wit? >> absolutely. in many ways we're seeing red states and blue states hurdle apart on issues and obama care will be another one. part of the story is that the blue states are beginning to see some momentum on the law, particularly places like california, kentucky, new york, state that's are actively and supportingly implementing it. half the country, though, are not expanding medicaid and are relying on the federal web site for the friest coverage. in those laces, texas, georgia, florida, much more minimal progress. i suspect as we go into 2014 and especially 2016 we'll see a house divided on health care where essentially the blue states will have a reasonably positive story to tell but in the red states there may be very little evidence of progress. >> the reporting has also been all over the place, whether it's "the washington post" or the "wall street journal." are people basically going into their camps and they are not budging on this issue, is there

really room to move on this? >> i think that's right. you're seeing a lot of pole polarization on this as there's been from the beginning. every senate democrat voted for it, every senate republican voted against it. almost unpress debited on a major bill in our history. the reality is with the president in the white house through 2017, it will be difficult for opponents possibly impossible to significantly retrench this bill. the core question is, during this time whether he can right the ship, stabilize it and put enough people into the program where it can be defended after he leaves office. where there is a political and economic constituency that believes in this. to do that, they have to sign up people at a far faster rate than they have been. >> it's amazing, the task only seems to get bigger by the day. ron brownstein, thank you. one of the world's most famous chefs embroiled in accusations she abused drugs.

how much truth is there behind her ex-husband's claims? that's next on the "cnn newsroom."

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♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ the story about an amish family on the run and in hiding after a legal battle with a hospital in ohio over their

daughter's cancer treatment. it all started when the parents stopped their daughter's chemo treatments and began using alternative medicine instead. now they're claiming she is cancer-free, but with no proven track record of success with alternative treatments. doctors say the little girl's time is running out and she could soon die. montana is fighting to get a former teacher back behind bars after he served only a month for raping his student, a 14-year-old girl. she later killed herself. state prosecutors have appealed the judge's 30-day rape sentence and handed down to stacy dean rambold, arguing the sentence was illegal under state law. celebrity chef nigella lawson accused of her ex-husband of using drugs, the allegations revealed in an explosive private e-mail read in court. he's backing down saying he never saw nigella lawson taking drugs. here's cnn's max foster in lond london. >> reporter: out of the frying

pan and into the fire. celebrity chef nigella lawson's private life splashed across the front pages with allegations of long-term drug abuse and lies. allegations coming via this man, charles so muchy. the couple split in summer after photos emerged of him with his hands around his wife's neck. this is the time he first learned of her drug abuse. asked about this incident in court, he said, i wasn't gripping, strangling or throttling her. i was holding her head by the neck to make her focus. can we be clear. when pushed as to whether or not it was anything to do with the alle alleged drug abuse, he he said no. firmly in the spotlight, he entered the courthouse on friday morning, greeted by the splash of light bulbs and camera crews.

as he testified against two italian sisters who used to work for his wife as personal assista assistants. both are standing trial accused of defrauding his company of more than $1 million with a company credit card. they allegedly used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle of five-star travel and boutique shopping. the sisters deny these charges and responded by accusing lawson of hiding a long-term drug habit from her husband. in court, he listened as an e-mail he wrote to lawson on october 10th was read out. of course now the grillos will get off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked. and, yes, i believe every word the grillos have said who, after all, only stole money. he said he was bereft that this e-mail was made public and he had never seen any actual evidence of nigella lawson taking drugs. due to return as a judge in the

new year of "the taste," nigella lawson herself has made no comment so far about the ongoing legal proceedings. she's likely to be called as a witness in the fraud case against the grillo sisters. he told the court he's been heartbroken since the marriage broke down. max foster, cnn, london. >> thanks to max foster. we're finally hearing from an american being held captive in north korea. but will a taped confession to an alleged war crime be enough to set him free?

in a new video released by the north korean government, it shows a captured american apologizing for korean war crimes. 84-year-old merrill newman, a veteran of the korean war, has been held for about a month. he was detained by north korea

just minutes before his plane was about to take off from pyongyang to beijing. here's the latest from tokyo. >> reporter: miguel, state media report that the north korean authorities are accusing american retiree merrill newman of hospitalities towards north korea. they say he infringed national sovereignty and dignity and also slaunderred the socialist system. now all that sounds a little like political mumbo jumbo until you look at the detail of what exactly they're accusing him of. focusing heavily on mr. newman's report as a u.s. officer. they say he engaged in espionage, submergs and also significantly during a short period after the korean war ended. in a taped and written confession, mr. newman says that he did train and advise a covert and clandestine group of anti-communists who operated behind enemy lines inside north

korea. that unit is the infantry register nlt, a group that historians say was controlled by the united states and the united nations and also coordinated closely with the cia. fast-forward then to october of this year, and that is when the north korean authorities say that mr. newman returned to north korea on this tourist package and attempted to reestablish contact with some of the former guerillas he had trained and also with their families and their descendants. in his taped confession, mr. newman does say that he asked the tour guide to help him make contact with some of those people. now, of course, we don't know whether this statement by mr. newman was made voluntarily or whether it was coerced. we don't know whether the words are his own or whether the text was written by the authorities and simply passed to him. we also don't know whether the names and events alluded to in that text are in fact accurate. what we do know, though, is that

the statement was signed on november 9th, two weeks after he was arrested, as he prepared to leave north korea. we don't know why it's taken the north korean authorities three weeks to make this public. some of the political analysts i've been speaking to say that this confession could satisfy the north koreans for propaganda purposes and they now may be preparing to release mr. newman. one should, however, of course remember the case of kenneth bay, a korean-american who was arrested in north korea a year ago now and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. even though some political analysts suggest that north korea may now be preparing to release mr. newman, they suggest that pyongyang may insist on having some diplomatic contact with the united states to work out logistics and may also insist on handing him over to a high-level delegation. miguel? >> thanks, karl. the u.s. will not recognize

china's newly created air defense zone over the east china sea, but it is advising air carriers to stay clear. china last week declared the area off limits. china and japan have claimed ownership of several islands in the east china sea. the u.s., japan and china fear the dispute could lead to violence intended or not. in sports, that old saying goes, if you ain't cheating you ain't trying. is that true? did you see what steelers coach mike tomlin did this week? he's accused of cheating. we're looking into how often this sort of thing happens with coaches behaving badly.

some sports fans are saying steelers coach mike tomlin deliberately got in the way of an opposing player about to score a touchdown. ed lavandera has more on the

long running history of coaches behaving badly. >> reporter: if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. that old saying is alive and thriving in sports. that's jason kidd head coach of the brooklyn nets basketball team. his team is down by two points with eight seconds left and no time-outs. as one of his players walks to the bench, you can see him play "hit me," then spills his drink on the court. guess what? the game is stopped to clean up the mess giving the nets time to draw up one last play. >> jacoby jones! >> reporter: then there's head coach of the pittsburgh steelers accidentally or intentionally -- you decide -- getting in the way of a ravens player streaking toward a sure touchdown at a crucial point in the game. tomlynn says he lost track of where he was on the field. the ravens say it was deliberate. >> i'm look at him the whole time. i'm like, i'm like, is he going to move 0? >> he knew where he was, knew where jacoby was. he pulled my move.

>> cheating in sports is as timeless as the games. some cheat for money, like the infamous 1919 chicago black sox, eight players including the popular shoeless joe jackson accused of fixing world series games for payoffs from shady gambl gamblers. >> say it ain't so, joe. >> a made for the big screen saga in the movie "eight man out." the players were banned for life. then the aging athletes who cheat to keep up with the younger athletes, who used vaseli vaseline, baby oil, sandpaper, whatever they could get their hands on to make that baseball move around. joe necro's sandpaper crime was so legendary it created comedy gold for late night. >> you have an electric sander, wire brush, you're ready for business. >> reporter: there are the performance enhancing drug using

cheaters, lance armstrong, ben johnson, alex rodriguez, to name a few and those widely thought to have using drugs, denying it, including barry bonds and sammy sosa. >> this record is not tainted at all. at all. period. you guy kz say whatever you want. >> reporter: but if cheating is trying, it doesn't always work. jason kidd was fined $50,000 for spilling the drink, and his team still lost the game. and mike tomlin and the steelers, they also lost. ed lavandera, cnn, dallas. a four-foot-deep hole has opened up in chicago. one person managed to scramble out. neither people were hurt. it's shopping 2.0, where stores know your gender, your mood, predicting what you might want to buy. we're looking into the future of shopping, next.

well, we know a lot of you will be buying at least some of your holiday gifts online. did you know the web can now be

a big part of your experience even when you go to a store. lori siegel is live in new york. lori, tell us about it. >> hey, look, the stores are getting a lot smarter. this year the trend is all about personalization, combining offline and online. it's enabled because of technology. check it out. this holiday season, look for shopping to get a little bit personal. welcome to shopping 2.0, where stores know your gender, your mo mood. with one new technology, they can even anticipate what you might want. that's kaco, a cupcake store in san francisco. it helps retailers target products to you based on your taste. >> you like rely velvet cupcakes you probably like the combination of cream cheese and pumpkin cake. >> we looked at amazon as a backdrop for a lot of the things we do.

amazon has built an incredible experience online, a lot of it recognizing who you are. >> they want that experience offline. >> offline retailers need to be able to recognize you really on any channel you engage with them, whether it be online social or in-store. >> reporter: the technology which you opt into is baked into their payment system. it's also integrated into a store as app so you'll get push notifications when you enter the store. >> it will say welcome back. it might suggest a new product, provide you with an incentive to try something new. >> reporter: the founders were previously behind google wallet, but this technology does not require a phone to pay. >> you don't have to pull out your phone or wallet. you walk up, enter an index pin and effectively log into the store. >> right now it's limited to smaller retailers but the index founders are hoping eventually the technology will be in major retailers. imagine this, by walking into a store, you're actually logging into that store. ads are getting smart, too.

imagine technology that knows your gender, knows how you feel, immersive labs is making this possible with dij al ads that use the webcam to analyze your reaction. other entrepreneurs set out to transform the way we pay. 'tis the season where surprisingly less might be more. >> see, my wallet is filled with cards, credit cards, debit cards, rewards cards, gift cards. filled with them. too many. this is a coin. >> reporter: the connected device digitally combines your credit card noose one. >> all of these cards are inside my coin. >> ends up choosing inside the wallet you'll be chiez choosing on the coin. >> reporter: it works as an app. users swipe their cards, take a picture and keep one card for all purposes. >> all you ever need is one. one coin for all your cards. >> miguel, personalization is a huge trend we're seeing in silicon valley.

imagine walking into a restaurant, they know whether you're a vegetarian, what you've ordered in the past and your waiter can come up and recommend based on your past. that's the future and the technology being built right now. >> can they just read my mind and send out presents to everybody i want them to go to without my having to lift a finger? >> as long as one's for me. >> but of course. the biggest present. obviously privacy concerns here, you do have to hand over a lot of information. why don't people have the same priva privacy concerns with this as we do with the edward snowdens of the world. >> this is the kind of thing where it integrates into our daily life. i asked the founders this, they said you opt into this kind of technology. the folks that sold us ad that read your expressions they say they don't record video. they do realtime analytics. they say the data is actually anonymous. but this is something we need to challenge these start-ups as they're building up this technology

>> yeah, i was reading about the coin card. that looks interesting to me, and i think they're offering a deal right now, so that may be in your future there, i'm guessing. thank you very much. >> thank you. a quick-thinking store clerk helped cops catch someone who didn't want to pay in miami gardens wednesday morning. an armed robber was caught on surveillance video. police say 22-year-old johnny love demanded the clerk hand over cash. he did and suggested to love to grab some beer as well. that's when the clerk hit a silent alarm, but what finally did love in? his clumsiness. first, he dropped the loot, and then his gun, then he dropped the beer. oh, dear. all this bumbling gave cops enough time to get there and arrest him. my god. all right. not a very smart guy, unfortunately. some people spend years learning to play classical music. the man you're about to meet says he's learned to play without even taking a lesson.

amazing. and he makes that beautiful music, even though he can barely feel his own fingers. his inspirational story, just ahead. but first, do you believe in heaven? or have you ever had an experience where you believe you died and saw heaven but returned to resume your life? mary neil says she experienced heaven after an accident in which she nearly died. here's what she told cnn's randi kaye. >> i could see the sand on the river bank. i could see them pull my body to the shore. i could see them start cpr. i had no pulse and i wasn't breathing. one fellow was yelling at me to come back. >> you were unconscious, so how do you know that all this was happening? >> i felt my body break free, and i felt my spirit break free, and i was greeted by these people or these spirits. i could be with them and be going down this incredible

pathway and simultaneously look back at the river. when i saw my body, i will say that was the first time that i actually thought, well, i guess i am dead. i guess i really did die. >> in the book, you write about dancing with them. >> yeah. >> were you celebrating something or -- >> yes! >> what? what were you celebrating? you had just died. >> it was a great homecoming, and i was really surprised by the fact that i had no intention of going back. >> you didn't want to return? >> no. and i had all the reasons to return. i had a great life. i had a great job. i had a great husband. my children are wonderful and i love them more than i could ever imagine loving something on earth. but the love that i felt for them in comparison to god's love

that was absolutely flowing through everything was just pale in comparison. and then at a certain point, one of the people or spirits told me that it wasn't my time and that i had more work to do on earth and that i had to go back to my body. >> find out what happened to mary neal. watch tomorrow night on cnn for anderson cooper's special report "to heaven and back" at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern time. honestly, i'm not looking for five-star treatment. i get times are tight. but it's hard to get any work done like this. then came this baby -- small but with windows and office. it runs my work stuff. ...and i can use apps like flipboard for news, or xbox video to watch the shows i'm never home to see... and i can still get work done at the same time. excuse me, do you mind if i... yep. ♪ honestly, i wanna see you be brave ♪

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a homeless man is enthralling people with his amazing talent. he's never taken a music lesson or learned to read a note of music at all, but when he sits at a piano, something incredible happens. hillary lake with our affiliate katu in portland, oregon, has

the story. >> and finding this book, it was just like -- >> reporter: classical music has always been a part of james maynard's life. it grasps his soul and makes him feel alive, but he's never heard anything like this. ♪ ♪ >> he gives you a joy that surpasses all understanding. you just listen to him. >> reporter: james is listening to david allen welsh, a local homeless man with raw talent. >> people can't do that unless god will let them. >> reporter: that's david's belief, too. >> my custom is just to close my eyes and say, "dad, do what you do." it's your gift. >> reporter: david's relationship with god has been

the only steady part of his 50 years of living. >> i've been on the streets since i was 6 years old. >> reporter: that's also when he says he discovered his talent. >> i don't know how to play music, but i like what i hear in my head. >> reporter: david has never taken a music lesson and can't read a note, but sharing it keeps him going. >> sometimes i don't even know what key i'm pushing, you know. my eyes aren't even -- i'm just letting the music play the music. >> reporter: he's been coming to secondhand solutions in vancouver for the past year, using a borrowed piano to play a song full of emotion. >> it's called "ariel equatis." it's my version of amazing grace. >> reporter: the melody made people in the store stop to record the moment in disbelief. ♪ >> and like most people tend to judge a book by its cover, i was so ashamed at myself for having passed judgment on him. >> reporter: it moved james maynard so much, he wept.

it was his first time witnessing david's gift. >> when somebody's genuinely here and genuinely moved and they reach out and give you a hug, i weep, too. >> reporter: most of us might think that david would tear up because of his situation -- no home, no family and few belongings. he calls his life rich because of what he believes god wants him to share. >> i can't be selfish. it's like anything that i get, god's given. >> reporter: even with numb fingers that shouldn't be able to hit the keys, david keeps on giving his music to anyone who will listen, pushed by faith that his fellow man, like james, will hear grace in every note. >> and that's why we love portland. thanks to hillary lake with our affiliate katu. coming up at 2:30 on "cnn newsroom," we'll have more on an amish family in hiding. they're refusing to treat their daughter's cancer with chemotherapy. they say she's cancer-free because of an alternative

treatment. their lawyer joins us in the next hour. and a helicopter crashes through a roof of a pub. eight people dead so far and officials are searching for survivors. we'll hear from an eyewitness. we'll see you in 30 minutes for the latest news. "your money" starts right now. well, by now, you're home and you have survived the trip home from thanksgiving. guess what, flying is about to get noisier, slower and maybe more expensive! i'm christine romans. welcome to "your money." in 1978, the u.s. had 20 major airlines, by 1990, just 12. since then, delta merged with northwest, united with continental and american airlines with u.s. air. you get the picture. ticket prices have come down since the 1970s, but over the last few years, they're up again. prices at the nation's 100 biggest airports are up 6.5% since 2005. a study from "usa today" says that's thanks in part to service cuts at some airports because of all of these mergers. fares at savannah hilton